Carl Muller and late son's poems launch today

Eminent Sri Lankan author Carl Muller will launch his second book of poems, A Bedlam of Persuasions and a second book, The Poems of Destry Muller, a collection of poems written by his late son, on November 22, at the British Council, Kandy. The two books are published by Vijitha Yapa Publications.

'A Bedlam of Persuasions' is a collection of humorous poems, written by an unpoet who claims to have failed miserably to express what he thinks and feels and even admits that the way he writes is a degradation of the poet's art. Yet upon the advice of a friend who said if he writes what pleases him, it makes him a poet, the author decided to write poetry portraying a more chaotic world than actually is, rather than emulate true poets who make their own worlds which are free from chaos.

The first poem, Deiyyo Saakki!, presents readers with a rib-tickling look at the Creation, in terms of what the world has come to today, the fall of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and the Great Flood. It ends with the moral: Never trust a garden. The strangest things happen in it. Some other poems in this anthology include: Clothes maketh the Woman, The Day After Tomorrow, Literary Escapism and Anuradhapura Days.

The second book to be launched is a compilation of poems by Destry Muller who was killed by a speeding bus when he was just 21 years of age. His father describes him as a seeker, trying to come to grips with a world that he wanted passionately to explore. Many of his poems deal with the world around him and the discoveries made by him.

In his poem 'I'm trying to introduce my poems' the young author talks about finding ones star and what to do after that. When he finally discovers that his star is within his heart he expresses a desire to let his poems be the bursting of the star that is within him.

Carl Muller, 70, shot into literary prominence with the Gratiaen Award-winning "The Jam Fruit Tree". Since that time, he has authored works of fiction, short stories, essays and monographs. His blockbuster "Children of the Lion" won him the State Literary Award and his poetry has earned recognition of the American Poetry Association, California. He has been a journalist since 1964 and worked in newspapers in Sri Lanka as well as Dubai, Bahrain and Oman. He is a political columnist on the Lanka Monthly Digest.